Latch-mounting.



Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

, companying drawings, in whichbarren s'ra'rns ra'rnnr series.

ARTHUR W. WALKER, OF MALDEN, MASSACI-I'USE 'ITS.

LATCH-MOUNTING.

Application filed January 26, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR W. WALKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements inLatch-Mountings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in latch mountings.

More particularly it relates to means for providing adjustability of onemember of the latch of a door, in a direction perpendicular to the planeof the door, under circumstances that do not permit the latch member asa whole to be moved in that ditrection.

Some means of adjusting the latch member in the direction perpendicularto the plane of the door and of the furnace front is desirable, but nomethod of doing that has heretofore been known so far as I am awarewhich does not involve cumbersome or otherwise unsatisfactoryarrangements,

' }along the face of the furnace front, without moving the latch memberits elf materially along the face of the furnace front.

It is a further object of the invention to provide this adjustabilitywithout any complication of parts or disfigurement of the design and insuch a way that the adjustment can be altered and the latch member fixedat any time quickly in the precise desired position. I

Details of the manner in which the objects of the invention areaccomplished will be hereinafter described and pointed out in theappended claims, the purpose of the patent being to cover whateverfeatures of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

The construction is illustrated in the ac- Figure 1 is a plan showingthe application of the invention to the door of the furnace; Fig. 2 is afront elevation of the adjustable Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 28, 1%115.

Serial No. 814,312.

member of the latch; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same .showing itin place.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates the front wall of a furnace orother structure having an opening 11 which is closed by a door 12. Thedoor is represented as having a latch member 141. which is adapted toengage with another latch member 15 on the furnace front. The latch 14.is repre sented as being of a type which is commonly used, in that it ispivoted at .16, and is formed at the short end of a lever whose otherend consists of a handle 17 heavy enough to hold the end 1% normallyraised. This construction is best seen in Fig. 3, where it will beunderstood that when a person lifts the handle 17 itslatch end 14:swings downward and thus clears the stationary latch member 15, so thatthe door can be opened, and also that when the open door is swung towardclosed position, the inclined backs of the two latch members engage eachother, with the result that the latch 14 is forced downward against theslight opposition of the weighted end 17, until the door is closed tightenough for it to slip upward into latched position. It will be obvioushowever, that the application of the invention is not limited to latchesof this type.

The particular feature of the invention is found in the mounting of onemember of the latch, in this case the member that is on the furnacefront. This member has a base 18 formed with a section of cylindricalsurface adapted to bear against the cooperating section of cylindricalsurface 19 that is formed on the face of the furnace front. Thecylindrical surface 19 extends, preferably, a little beyond the distancecovered by the portion of a cylindrical surface which is embodied in theplate 18, so that the latter can be slipped to the right or to the left,on the curve, while still bearing solidly against the surface 19. A slot20 passing through the plate 18, and a hole 21 passing through theadjacent part of the furnace front, permit a bolt 22 to penetrate boththe furnace front and the plate, so that by the' aid of a nut 23 theplate 18 can be clamped in any position, to the right or left, on thecurved surface 19 of the furnace front. The bolt substantially fills itshole, so that the tightness of the furnace front is not disturbed.

Whenever the nut 23 is screwed u the cylindrical surface of the plate 18is rawn against the cylindrical surface 19 of the furnace front and isconsequently made fast in a position in which the two axes coincide,because the two cylinder surfaces extend vertically and have equalradii. The position where their axes coincides is located in front ofthe furnace front and is a line extending vertically and beingapproximately in a plane parallel to the closed door and passing throughthe position the operative face of the latch 1 1 is expected to occupywhen the apparatus is complete. The latch member 15 which is supportedon the base 18 projects far enough therefrom so that when the slot 20 isin a medial position with respect to the bolt 22, this latch memberstands in or close to said plane. Whenever the cylindrical base 18 ismoved to a different position and has been clamped upon the furnacefront by the bolt 22, the net result is equivalent to a rotation of acylinder of which the plate 18 is a part about an axis at .the position24, because its final position when clamped is determined by thecylindrical surface 19 which is formed about the same axis.

Inasmuch as the latch face 15 is integral with the base 18, any rotativemovement of the base 18 about the axis 24 is accompanied by a similarrotative movement of the face of the latch member 15 about the axis 24;;and owing to the location of that face approximately in a plane parallelto the furnace door the initial part of its rotative movement is in adirection approximately perpendicular to that plane. The departure ofsuch movement from perpendicularity of direction is not great enough tobe material in the small distances through a plane arallel to thefurnace door which the ad ustment is to be carried out. Thus the latchmember 15 may be adjusted toward or from the plane of the closed door,or of the furnace front, and fastened by bolt 22 in the precise positionWhere it ought to be for cooperation with the door and the latch member1 1 thereon. The incidental lateral movement of the latch member 15, tothe right or left in Fig. 1, is so slight as to be negligible.

Thus it will be seen that the invention provides a simple and effectivemeans by which an adjustment of the latch member in a direction towardor from the plane of the door may be made by a lateral movement of theplate on which the latch member is mounted in what is substantially adirection parallel to the plane of the door; and although not actuallyin such a parallel direction, the

movement is to the right or left on a curved Copies of this patent maybe obtained for part of the furnace front, practically as if it were tothe right or left on a flat part.

While the invention is illustrated as it may be applied to the member ofthe latch which is mounted on the furnace front, it will be obvious thatit is not limited to that arrangement, and that variations may be madein other respects. Thus, although the surface of the plate 18 is spokenof as cylindrical and bearing on the cylindrical surface of the part 19,portions of the surface of the part 18 may be cut away as illustratedclearly in the drawing, leaving only terminal ridges at the edges tobear on the surfaces 19; and although the curvature is referred to ascylindrical, that being the preferable form, it will be noted that otherforms of transverse curvature might be substituted while still embodyingthe essence of the invention and obtaining characteristic benefits ofthe invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination, with a an and a door, of a latch, including a membermount-- ed on the wall and having a base, the base and said wall beingadapted to bear upon each other in various positions along a surface ofcylindrical curvature; and'means to fix the two together in said variouspositions; the latch member supported by said base being approximatelyin a plane passing through the axis of said curvature and parallel tothe door when closed, whereby the corresponding various positions of thesaid latch member form a line of adjustability substantiallyperpendicular to the said plane.

2. The combination, with a wall and a door, of a latch, including onemember on the wall and another member on the door and adapted to engagetherewith, one of these being adjustably mounted on its support; therebeing a curved surface between it and its supports whereon theadjustment may occur; and means to clamp ittoits support to preventmovement at said surface; the center of said curvature beingapproximately in a plane passing parallel to the closed door through thepoint of engagement between the two members of the latch, whereby thesaid position of engagement, when adjusted, is adjusted in a directionapproximately perpendicular to the said plane of the door.

Signed by me at Boston, Mass, this 7th five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

